Ohio falls below 2,000 new COVID-19 cases for first time in 2023
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio has again surpassed the lowest COVID-19 case count since the state health department switched to reporting weekly numbers.
The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday reported 1,926 new COVID-19 cases, beating out the previous record of 2,770 for the year. The state had a recent jump upwards on May 11, as it reported 3,836 cases, but has since continued declining. Ohio's most recent notable climb in COVID-19 numbers was at the beginning of March, when it neared 10,000 weekly COVID-19 infections before falling back down.
ODH has been reporting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations weekly instead of daily since new infections slowed after the omicron wave. Over the past seven days, the state averaged around 275 new coronavirus cases per day.
The 111 hospitalizations reported by ODH in the past seven days -- about 16 per day -- decreased from the 159 reported last week and the 138 hospitalizations in the week prior.
COVID-19 deaths went down alongside hospitalizations. ODH said 24 people died from the virus, falling from the 36 deaths reported in the previous week and the 26 from two weeks before.
| COVID-19 metric | Total | Change (past 7 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 3,449,990 | +1,926 |
| Hospitalizations | 140,881 | +111 |
| Deaths | 42,299 | +24 |
Both the number of Ohioans getting their first shot and the amount completing COVID-19 vaccinations increased over the past week, albeit slightly. Compared to 945 in the week before, 1,100 started the vaccine process. Another 889 finished vaccination by getting their second dose, down from 848. Around six in 10 Ohioans are partially or fully vaccinated.
| COVID-19 metric | Total | Change (past 7 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Vaccinations started (one dose) | 7,587,117 | +1,100 |
| – % of all Ohioans | 64.91% | |
| – % of Ohioans 5+ | 68.37% | |
| Vaccinations completed (two doses) | 7,037,711 | +889 |
| – % of all Ohioans | 60.21% | |
| – % of Ohioans 5+ | 63.60% |